We were able to get three SLR mags in the Steyr mag pouches - it's a squeeze but it can be done.
The ideal though was to use the 200 round minimi pouch for the 20 round 7.62 mags.
FYI, 100+ rounds of 7.62 will fit in the minimi pouch. It's not perfect and stretches the pouch well out of shape, but it's better than holding it in your hands....

The PLCE ammo pouches that are issued are a double pouch with each holding 3 magazines. Early versions had dividers that were removed by later versions. They are easy to remove with a knife anyway. Commercially there are also singles and triple pouches available.

Sounds as if SLR mags might fit after all (I don't have one handy to check).

PLCE water bottle pouches do have a lid, many squaddies however use the entrenching tool pouch for a water bottle (it is a perfect fit but you can't carry the mug).

58 webbing will hold 4 x STANAG mags, 5 if you force them in making them hard to remove. A common trick with 58 webbing was to get cardboard or plastic inserts to keep the pouch rigid, mainly for parades but sometimes in the field.

ALICE pouches fit on both PLCE and 58 webbing but slide around.

Where there's a will...
Whenever I needed new pouches, or simply had the opportunity to go over gear what was being returned to the Q-store, I'd take the oldest, rustiest clips I could find. The newer plastic ones were ok if you needed to modify your webbing fairly regularly, but there's nothing like a decent bit of rust to keep things in place.
Electrical tape and baling wire also have plenty of uses on webbing and even a bit of scrim wedged strategically into place can help firm things up.

In my opinion, a soldiers webbing should receive nearly as much care and attention as their weapon - webbing that comes apart or slides around in combat is at best a serious nuisance and at worst can get you killed.

I cheated on my webbing. I pot riveted all the pouches to my belt and to each other. The buggers never came off after that and it was a nice fit without anything bouncing around.
As has been said, where there's a will there's a way.

I know a few people who did that but thought it wasn't the best idea as it meant you couldn't change your webbing easily if you were suddenly handed the machinegun and needed to carry belts instead of mags.

I used a lot of tape on my webbing, and as mentioned by Leg the padding things out with bits of scrim trick works well too. All the old hands that I encountered in the infantry treated webbing set up and maintenance like an art.

It is an art. It's amazing how many just throw it together and wonder why it all comes unstuck in the field and why they're always developing sores and blisters.
Boots are the same - they have to fit well and be kept supple with leather dressing / polish. A soldiers feet also need serious attention, airing them out as often as possible, changing socks as often as possible and treating even the smallest problem immediately.

It's the attention to these sorts of detail which seperate the real soldiers from the pretenders. Much of this attention to detail tends to be ignored in the field by novices though and reserved for the parade ground.

A soldiers weapon must be maintained properly to function correctly. The soldier himself should give his body the same attention or they're going to fall in a heap eventually.

Sorry, continuing to stray OT here. It is a point of some humour among my family and friends that since the army all I have ever worn on my feet is boots. I do own a pair of running shoes but I honestly couldn't say where they are in my house. I wear boots when out walking, boots at the office, boots when going out socialising. I'm more than happy to pay good money for decent boots.

I guess at some point in the early 90s I got it stuck in my head that boots are what real men wear and that was that. For many years I cycled to work every day and wore boots riding my bike. Although I'm not quite the 'action man' I once was i still feel that one advantage of always wearing boots is that my feet are very used to it and I can leap into action at any time with little fear of injuring my feet. There are a number of occasions over the years where unexpected accidents would have resulted in broken toes or other foot injuries had I not been wearing boots.

My current daily wear boots are 8" Magnum Interceptor waterproof boots. Very comfortable, reasonable ankle support, have prooved to be quite durable so far.

You know I'm exactly the same. Although basically confined to the office I wear almost nothing but boots when I'm not barefoot. Good solid boots with decent ankle support and a strong hard sole.
I wore my old issue black GPs into the ground but still have my browns for when I'm out bush cutting firewood or whatever. They're a good 16+ years old now and still going strong due to the regular dressing they get (although the tread is a bit worn). Oddly enough I've still got (and wear) some of my issue socks which still don't have any holes in them despite being nearly 20 years old.
They just don't make things like they used to!

Hah! Same here. I still wear my Army issue browns when I'm in the bush but the soles are well worn now, sadly. My last pair of issue socks finally died eight or nine years ago.

I heard a medic say once that he could tell a newbie from an old hand just by the condition of their feet. Anyone who'd been in the infantry less than about 6 months could barely walk with tinea, blisters and raw flesh while the older soldiers never seemed to have an issue (except maybe tinea they'd picked up in the communal showers, but even then it was under control).

Back in the ALICE kit days everything was supposed to be tied on or dummy corded with 550 cord, at least in some units I was in. Some of the more enterprising guys would replace the metal ALICE clips with nothing but 550 cord to minimize rubbing and hot spots.

The thing I see today with the MOLLE stuff is a lot of my Joes get issued a rifleman's kit vest and use it as is without any thought given to whether the pre-assembled set up works, is optimal for them, etc. Most of them don't even have a concept of what an optimal set up is, with kit or weapons, and have to be beat over the head with the right thing to do, rather than what looks cool or is easiest/most comfortable.

In the early days we'd buy (later it became standard issue) a padded liner for inside the belt. Eliminated any issues with the clips rubbing completely, and added a couple more inches of width to your waist which also meant a few more inches of belt space for pouches, etc. For a thin man like myself (at the time) those extra few inches were a godsend!

Might be worth checking my article on 27SAS too.

Updated article
 

Updated version adding sniper rifles, a note about SF rifles and a few minor edits.

Although I'll admit to getting trenchfoot in Basic, I learned a lot from that, and from that point always had lots of dry socks and if I had room, another pair of boots. I didn't use foot powder because when combined with sweat it turned into scratchy sand. I bought moisturizing cream instead. A lot of people laughed because I polished my boots in the field or or laved them with Neat's Foot Oil, but it kept my boots in good shape. Back at the unit, I washed them with saddle soap quite often. The only real problem with my boots I had was right boot sole wear (I pronate slightly).

And I wore my LBE in a strange way, high on my waist, almost to the level where the web belt was at the bottom of my rib cage. It just felt the most comfortable to me there.

New version
 

Now with two new rifles and SMGs (hence the change of name). Pistols and MGs to follow.

James, Illustration (Pic) 24, RUC member is NOT holding a G3 as the text says. That weapon is an HK33 in 5.56N.

Otherwise excellent. Also there was a typo "was" instead of "way". I suspect spellchecker incorrectly interpreted some othe typo.

Thanks
 

Thanks, I should have looked more closely at the pic, wherever I got it from had it listed as a G3 so I just used that without looking carefully. At least that is easy to change.

If there is only a single type that is almost unique for me!

Thanks for the comments, both will be corrected in the next version.

good
 

quality stuff.

Cool pics too. would have taken a fairbit of google fu to aquire I imagine.

L96 originally was fitted with a 6x S&B scope, but was upgraded to a 3.5-12x50 S&B scope with SIMRAD Image Intensifier night vision capability.
L118 is an SF only weapon, with the ability to swap to a suppressed barrel and 6x S&B scope and SIMRAD II.

1991 .50" M82 Barrets also became SF sniper rifles with a 12x scope. Originally these were EOD weapons, but were never cleared for non SF use after CHS issues. The Accuracy International AW 50 Bolt action .50 Sniper rifles replaced the M82's in EOD units and in small numbers came into SF service.

HK G3K's and Stoner AR18's were also used by SF units.

Some are real nightmares - the AR18 used by 10 Para trooper was a Godsend though.

Average pic takes about 5 min.

Thanks,

I'm generally staying clear of SF kit for now. Do you have in service date of the L96 upgraded scope.

Interested to see AR18 as an SF weapon - do you have a source for that - the only UK reference I have found is the one used by NITATT (plus those in museums after tours of Ireland...).

Next version
 

Expanded version. Can anyone see anything I need to add (other than SF kit)?

Updated version
 

I've now added the fictional L85A3 and Sterling 5.56 plus a few other minor edits.

Great work as always, James. The document needs some additional sub-editing, there are a few minor spelling mistakes and missing parentheses) and a line of text is obscured by the top of a photo on page 5. Not really a criticism, just letting you know.

Upgraded version with stats and in the style of the similar Warsaw Pact Guide. Sorry about the low res but it's right at the limit of the site upload limit. I am building a new web site that will have higher res versions. Next guide is planned to be German weapons.

Would it be useful if I added hand held AT weapons?

Any other comments or suggestions?

On the German Weapons Guide? Some AT weapons are missing in the rules, so I'd love to see them. I would like to lend a helping hand on the German stuff, if you're okay with that, James.

I'd like to see more on the modern German panzerfaust AT weapon. It's sadly absent from nearly all of my weapon books. I'm sure there's stuff out there on the interweb I could find, but I like it better when James does it.:)

Minor nit: In the AK section you have a L47A1. In the Walther Section, you also have a L47A1. Was it possible for the British System to have two items with the same ID number?

Game's data is on Paul's site (Rocket Launchers - German). The older Panzerfaust (It was called the "leichte PzFst" in German service, Paul has it under "Panzerfaust 44-2A1") and the Panzerfaust 3 are both presented.

Actually that is entirely possible as technically they should be called the Rifle, L47A1 and Pistol, L47A1. As nobody ever uses the L series numbers when describing the weapons this is no problem e.g. the L1A1 is ALWAYS the SLR and the L2A3 is the SMG (formal) or Sterling (more common).

Beauty. Was wondering so I thought I would point it out.

Otherwise, really good. I love that you covered the official acceptance of the fact that the AK would see service in some form or another.

Will put a note in the next rewrite, comparing to US use of M series codes.

It seems logical to use it as so many would be captured and I can't see weapon production keeping pace. Plus I have so many useful photos with squaddies with AKs.

Cracking job James...I like the sidebars with the quotes - really bring it to life. Was Staff Sergeant Nancy Aird RMP married to a Fusilier called Paddy by any chance?

Very minor point re: the photos...in the section on the SLR the picture is captioned as showing a member of 5/8 Queens Regt - should that be 5/8 Kings Regt?

There are a few in jokes, quite probably she was.

It should be Kings - will correct.

Can anyone see anything to add? So far I have M72, LAW80 and Carl Gustav plus the rifle grenades. Oh and the kukri.

How about rubber bullets? (Not sure if that comes under the rifle grenade category?)

Please, this topic has driven me quite insane already. And I already have a head start...:D

This is probably not as hard as trying to simulate chokes (as on shotguns), but nonlethal rounds still drives me nuts.

Hi James,
maybe some words on the MILAN are justified.

And speaking of the kukri - what a bout the "MOD 4". Maybe not a real beauty, but scary as hell. From all I've read about that "survival knife", it may be really hard to slice bread with it, but an ideal tool, if you don't have a crowbar with you :D

According to the "Small Arms Identifications Series, .303 Marks I & II" by Ian Skennerton.

With the adoption of the 7.62N in December 1953 some were converted to the new round and the "L" series nomenclature.

.303 No. 4 Mark 2 L8A1
.303 No. 4 Mark 1/2 L8A2
.303 No. 4 Mark 1/3 L8A3
.303 No. 4 Mark 1 L8A4
.303 No. 4 Mark 1* L8A5

With the intention of issue to Police and Security Forces. This conversion was done by Sterling as well as a commercially available conversion kit for .303 to 7.62N.